Steam generator



Nov. 6, 1934. w. McLAUGHLIN ET AL STEAM GENERATOR Filed June 30. '1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 GQQ Q ooe oaa oa KNOW. WMOWI HII HU HHWN oaaoooo bw A ORNEY.

generator installed. and ready for Patented Nov. 6, 1934 umrso srA STEAM GENERATOR Application June 30, 1932, Serial No. 620,080

7 Claims. (01. 122-182) This invention relatesto a new or improved steam generator especially adapted to be fired by oil, gas, comminuted fuel, or like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide asteam boiler that is capable of producing a maximum amount of steam in a min imum length of time and with a minimum amount of fuel,

. A further object of our invention is to provide ahigh capacity steam generator that has its combustion chamber and hot gas travelways so designed and arranged that nearly perfect combustion results and the. travelways or hot gas ducts are maintained in a clean and efficient condition.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a steam generator of the continuous type that circulates the water or liquid being reduced to steam, thereby making for efiiciency and the elimination of the possibility of warping or burning out of the hot gas flues.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a steam boiler or like that is economical and. durable in use.

These and other objects will be those skilled in the art.

Our invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out n our claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of our steam use.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View of our upright steam generator taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and more fully illustrates the interior construction of the combustion chamber.

Fig. 3 is a top View of the device tion cut away to show the inside of the upper portion of the same;

The increasing usage of distilled water has created a tremendous demand for a steam gen erator capable of rapidly reducing water to steam at low cost. The chief objections to steam boilers now being used for this purpose are their inability to produce steam continuously and economically, their tendency to immediately foul up by usage, and their inability to immediately transfer the greater percent of the heart units created in the combustion chamber to the water to be reduced to steam. Although our steam generator may be used for other purposes besides the production of steam for producing distilled water, it is highly desirable for this use processes as tion filed in the Serial l lo. 617,638, on a proce production of distilled water.

tom, as shown in Fig. 1. her

inside of the shell 11.

forcing flanges embedded in th side of the shell 11.

This

apparent to the discharge end of the fuel 15, which curves to each side rate and distinct streams. move, therefore, to the right a as they are confined cular refractory wall with a secconstruction from the .fuel inlet pipe.

duces vortex inside the combustion only have to travel half inside the combustion chamb is much less in height than the height boiler housing and has an outside diameter much less than the inside diameter of the numeral 12 designates a refractory lining on the The numeral 13 designates a plurality of circular supporting and rein:-

formed out of the refractory lining 12. ridge is positioned diametrically opposite from TES PATENT ()FFICE and its employment is recommended in such taught in our co-pending applica- Patent Office June 16, 1932,

ss relating to the We have used the numeral 10 to generally designate the steam boiler housing. The numeral 11 designates the outer circular shell of the combustion chamber inside and resting on the floor of the boiler housing proper and open at its hot- This combustion cham of the housing. The

e refractory lining 12 and secured by any suitable means to the in- The numeral 14 designates the fuel inlet pipe having one of munication with a source of suitable fuel and its other end horizontally terminating inside near the top of the combustion chamber. The

its ends in comand inlet pipe 14 and from its dividing line. This dividing ridge 15 willnaturally cut and equally divide the hot gases into two sepa- These streams will nd to the left and by and must follow the cirthey will eventually strike each other at the rear of the combustion chamber and in the path of the flamedischarging chamber, which,

after successive revolutions, will eventually reach the bottom of the combustion chamber. By a double vortex action any unburned particles will as far as ordinarily to again enter the flame and be consumed. Besides this result of nearly perfect combustion, extremely high temperatures may be realized in.- side the combustion chamber and dead spaces er are practically iii) eliminated. Our experiences have further proved that by the use of our construction the refractory walls will last many times longer than when a construction giving a single vortex is used.

The numeral 16 designates closable peep holes communicating with the inside of the combus tion chamber for visibly viewing the action taking place inside the combustion chamber. The numeral 17 designates a pit under the boiler 10 and communicating with the inside bottom of the combustion chamber. This pit also communicates with the outside bottom of the boiler housing 10 at each side of the combustion chainber shell 11, as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 18 designates a continuous inwardly extending ledge or shoulder on the inner side of the pit and near the top of the same, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper side of this ledge may be protected with a refractory lining 19. The numeral 20 designates a compartment in the upper end portion of the boiler housing and spaced apart from the combustion chamber. The numeral 21 designates hot vertical gas lines positioned at each side of the combustion chamber and inside the housing 10. These flues have their lower ends communicating with the inside of the pit 17 and their upper ends communicating with the inside of the compartment 20.

By this arrangement, the hot gases produced in the combustion chamber will first pass downwardly into the pit 17 and then upwardly through the flues 21 into the compartment 20. This reversal of the travel of the hot gases, however, will cause the hot gases to lose any cinders, dirt, or like, which will immediately settle in the bottom of the pit. The shoulder 18, however, will be of a very high temperature and if by chance there are any unignited particles in the hot gases entering the pit, their contact with or close approachment to the shoulder will ignite and consume them. The depth of the pit 17 should be such that the cinders or dirt reaching the bottom thereof will be substantially cooled. This is highly desirable not only for the utilization of all possible heat units, but the collecting cinders or dirt will be more or less of a powdered state, in which condition they may be easily removed from the pit from time to time. If the pit 17 is not of substantial depth the cinders and dirt reaching the bottom of the pit would be in a molten condition and when cooled would not be in a powdered state, but in a solid state, which would have to be broken and removed with difficulty.

The numeral 22 designates a steam dome in the compartment 20 and having its bottom communicating with a central water compartment 23 of the boiler, as shown in Fig. 1. This steam dome is positioned directly above the combustion chamber and has a diameter similar to the diameter of the combustion chamber. The numeral 24 designates the steam outlet pipe communicating with the inside top of the steam dome. The numeral 25 designates a steam gauge communicating with the inside top of the steam dome. The numeral 26 designates a water gauge having its lower end communicating with the inside bottom of the steam dome.

The numeral 27 designates a hollow wall or partition inside the compartment 20 and positioned between the steam dome and the forward side of the boiler, as shown in Fig. 3. This hollow partition has its lower end communicating with the central water compartment 23, as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 28 designates a plurality of pipes, each having one of their ends communicating with the inside top of the steam dome and their other end communicating with the inside of the partition 27. By this construction, there is no danger of the hot gases in the compartment 20 burning out or warping the partition 27.

The numeral 29 designates a second pit under the boiler housing 10 and positioned in a vertical plane forward of the vertical plane of the combustion chamber, as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 30 designates a plurality of hot gas flues having their upper ends communicating with the inside of the compartment 20 and their lower ends communicating with the inside of the second pit 29. The numeral 31 designates a plurality of hot gas flues having their lower ends communicating with the inside of the pit 29 and their upper ends communicating with the inside of the compartment 20 forward of the partition 27. By this construction, the rapidly cooling hot gases will pass from the compartment 20 downwardly through the fiues 30 and into the pit 29. From the pit 29 the remaining hot gases will pass upwardly through the flues 31 into the compartment 20 forward of the partition 27. From the compartment 20 forward or" the partition 27 the gases may pass from the boiler housing through the stack 32. The construction and use of the pit 17 will eliminate practically all foreign matter from the hot gases and because of this, all of the fines and hot gas travelways will be maintained in a comparatively clean state. If, however, any undesirable particles initially continue with the hot gases they will lose themselves in the second pit 29.

The numeral 33 designates the water inlet pipe communicating with the inside water compartment 23 of the boiler. The point of entrance of the pipe 33 is near the forward bottom of the housing 10, as shown in Fig. 1. By this arrangement, water passing through the pipe 33 will fill the compartment 23, first contacting the flues 31, then the fines 30, and lastly the outside of the combustion chamber and fiues 21. Steam from this water will collect in the steam dome 22.

As our steam generator produces an extremely high temperature inside the combustion chamher, it is desirable that the water in the central compartment 23 be circulated in order that it will more closely contact the hot gas flues during the steam producing function. By circulating the water the flues will also last longer and will not warp or burn out, as experienced ordinary steam boilers. In order to automatically accomplish this desirable circulation of the water we have provided water and steam tubes 34 embedded in the refractory wall 12, as. shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 1. These tubes have their lower ends communicating with the inside bottom of the water compartment 23 and their upper ends communicating with the inside of the water compartment 23 near the top thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper ends of these tubes are bent from a vertical to a horizontal in order to throw water and steam to the sides of the combustion chamber for agitating the water surrounding the fines. The action of these tubes 34: is a natural result of their subection to exceptionally high temperatures, which causes the water to enter their lower ends and circulate rapidly upwardly and through them.

clean these water legs and the inside of the water compartment 23 it is a simple matter to open thewater leg valves 36, at the same time allowingwater to enter the compartment 23.

From the foregoing, it will readily benoted that we have provided a highly efficient steam generator of the continuous type capable of permitting the use of extremely high temperatures inside the combustion chamber andmaking pos sible the transfer of practically all of the heat units fro'mthe hot gases to the water to be reduced to steam.

Some changes may be made inthe construction and arrangement of our improved steam generator without departing from the real spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a housing having a water compartment, a pit located below said housing, a combustion chamber inside said water compartment having its bottom open to communicate with the inside top of said pit, a plurality of spaced apart vertical hot gas hues extending through said, water compartment and having their lower ends communicating with the inside top of said pit, a water supply pipe communicating with the inside of said water compartment, a fuel inlet pipe terminating inside said combustion chamber, and a restricting ledge inside said pit and near the top thereof.

2. In a device of the class described, a housing having a water compartment and a hot gas compartment, a combustion chamber inside said water compartment, a water supply pipe communicating with the inside of said water compartment, a steam dome inside said hot gas compartment and communicating with the inside of said water compartment, flues passing through said Water compartment each having one of their ends operatively communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber and their other end communicating with the inside of said hot gas compartment, a partition inside said hot gas compartment for creating a chamber therein, a gas outlet pipe communicating with the chamber so created, flues passing through said water compartment each having one of their ends communicating with the inside of said chamber and their other end operatively communicating with the inside of the hot gas compartment, and Water legs communicating with the inside bottom of said water compartment.

3. In a device of the class described, a housing having a water compartment and a hot gas compartment, a combustion chamber inside said water compartment, a water supply pipe communicating with the inside of said water compartment, a steam dome inside said hot gas compartment and communicating with the inside of said water compartment, flues passing through said Water compartment each having one of their ends operatively communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber and their other end communicating with the inside of said hot gas compartment, a hollow partition inside said hot gascompartment for creating a chamber-therein, an enclosed member having one end communicating with'the inside of said steam dome and its otherend communicating with the inside of said hollow partition, a gas outlet pipe communicating with the chamber so created, flues passing through said water compartment each having one of their ends communicating with the inside of said chamber and their other end operatively communicating with the -inside of the hot gas compartment, and Water legs communicating with the inside bottom of said water compartment.

4. In a device of the class described, a housing having a water compartment and a hot gas compartment, a combustion chamber inside said watercompartment, a water supply pipe communicating with theinside of said water compartment, a steam dome inside said hot gas compartment and communicating with the inside of said water compartment, flues passing through said water compartment each having one of their ends operatively communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber and their other endcommunicating with the inside of said hot gas compartment, a hollow partition communicating with the inside of said Water compartment and in said hot gas compartment for creating a chamber therein, a gas outlet pipe communicating with the chamber so created, flues passing through said water compartment each having one of their ends communieating with the inside of said chamber and their other end operatively communicating with the inside of the hot gas compartment, and water legs communicating with the inside bottom of said water compartment. 7

5. In a device of the class described, a housing having a water compartment and a hot gas compartment, a combustion chamber inside said Water compartment, a water supply pipe communicating with the inside of said Water compartment, a steam dome inside said hot gas compartment and communicating with the inside of said water compartment, flues passing through said Water compartment each having one of their ends operatively communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber and their other end communicating with the inside of said hot gas compartment, a hollow partition communicating with the inside of said water compartment and in said gas compartment for creating a chamber therein, an enclosed mem her having one end communicating with the inside of said steam dome, and its other end communicating with the inside of said hollow partition, a gas outlet pipe communicating with the chamber so created, flues passing through said water compartment each having one of their ends communicating with the inside of said 1 chamber and their other end operatively communicating with the inside of the hot gas compartment, and Water legs communicating with the inside bottom of said water compartment.

6. In a device of the class described, a housing 1 having a water compartment and a hot gases compartment, a partition in said hot gases compartment for creating two separate chambers therein, a steam dome in one of said chambers of said hot gases compartment communicating with j the inside of said water compartment, a pit under said housing, a combustion chamber inside said water compartment having its bottom open for communication with the inside top of said pit, a fuel inlet pipe communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber, flues passing through said water compartment having their lower ends communicating with the inside of said pit and their upper ends communicating with the inside of said hot gases compartment, a second pit below said housing, flues passing through said water compartment having their upper ends communicating with the inside of said chamber in which the steam dome resides and their lower ends communicating with the inside of said second pit, fiues passing through said water compartment having their lower ends communicating with the inside of said second pit and their upper ends communicating with the inside of the other chamber inside said hot gases compartment, a water supply pipe communicating with the inside of the water compartment, and a gas outlet pipe communicating with the inside of the chamber inside the said hot gases compartment.

partment, refractory material on the inside of said shell, supporting flanges secured on the inner side of said shell and embedded in said refractory material, a fuel inlet pipe extending radially into said combustion chamber, a dividing ridge formed of said refractory material extending to each side in a curved path and positioned diametrically opposite from the discharge end of said fuel inlet pipe, and fiues extending through said Water compartment each having one of their ends operatively communicating with the inside of said combustion chamber shell.

WILSON L. MCLAUGHLIN. HERROLD L. MCLAUGHLIN. VIRG BALLOU. 

